Amazon rolls Alexa out in Mexico

Amazon announced Wednesday (November 7) that its voice-activated digital assistant Alexa and its smart speaker Echo are now available in Mexico.

In a press release, Amazon said Alexa has learned to speak and understand Spanish tailored for the Mexican market. What’s more, the company said developers around the world are making skills and devices for Alexa for Mexican customers. “Tens of millions of customers around the world are already using Alexa, and today we’re excited to introduce the service to our customers in Mexico,” Amazon Alexa Vice President Toni Reid said in the press release. “We’ve built an entirely new experience from the ground up that honors Mexican culture, enabling customers to just ask to play their favorite music, get the news and weather, control their smart home, set reminders, enjoy local skills, and more. Plus, in addition to Echo, device makers like Sonos, Bose, and Harman Kardon are also launching devices with Alexa built-in. This experience has been custom-made for Mexico, and we cannot wait to hear what our customers think.”

According to Amazon, Alexa arrives in Mexico with an all-new experience built from the ground up for Mexican customers, including a brand-new voice, Spanish language support, local knowledge, hundreds of local skills and more. Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Spot and the Amazon Smart Plug are available for pre-order in Mexico today and will begin shipping next week.

The launch in Mexico comes as Amazon is always looking for new uses for its popular voice-activated digital assistant. In October The Next Web reported that Amazon is trying to make Alexa act as a doctor or nurse, detecting illness by a change in the user’s voice. The Next Web reported the company recently filed a patent in which Alexa can determine different things about a person based on their voice. For instance, it can determine if someone is happy, sad, mad, bored or afraid by the sound of his or voice, and can determine based on the user’s breath or voice if the person is crying or tired. The patent also covers being able to identify the user based on accent, age, and gender, as well as background noise.